yard update

When we moved into our house, the yard hadn't been taken care of for about a year.  As a result, our yard hasn't quite reached the "looks nice" stage because it's still in the "being reclaimed" stages.  It used to look crazy; now it looks a little less so.  Here are some pictures!  We still have a ways to go, but we're really happy with how much progress we've made so far.

So, you can see we have a lot of weeds on the outskirts, but check out that grass! Green! 

We're growing strawberries in the holes, and we haven't put anything in the actual bed yet.  Baby steps.

Working on some raspberries!

Thank you, Joel!  Also, check out those dandelions!

This picture is a couple months old.  These (and other) weeds are currently my height.

Check out these massive green onions!  The paring knife is in the picture for scale.  We left these onions in the ground over the winter, and this is how I picked them in the spring.  Nice!

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"'Remember, mundanity can be elevated to art by perception alone.'"  - Vince Gonzalez, as quoted by Po Bronson in Why Do I Love These People?

You have to wait!

When I was little and would tell my grandpa that I was so excited and "can't wait!" for something, he would always say, "You have to wait!"  I never liked that realization.  

I've realized something about myself since moving into our house.  I'm not a very patient person.

Rephrase: I'm not a very patient person when it comes to big things.  I can wait for a long time in a grocery store line or to get into a building.  As long as I'm not freezing, stressed about time, or have to go to the bathroom, I can wait for a looooong time.  Getting to places early and waiting for them to start?  Great at that.

But... When it comes to our yard or our basement or other various projects, and I can envision how I want them to be, I just want them to be that way.  And it frustrates me when we don't have the time or resources to make them that way now.  Our yard is great but it's overgrown with weeds.  We don't have a ton of money for plants or special dirt, but when you rip out weeds, you have to replace them with plants and then maintain the area or the weeds just come back.  That's what happened last summer - we ripped it all out, couldn't replace it or improve the dirt, and now we have to rip it all out again.

Plus I have so many pretty organization ideas to help keep our house clean and pretty!  But everything costs money and we're using ours for something we want more right now, which is a finished basement.  

I'm trying to apply this quote I read in Why Do I Love These People?: 

…We generate excessive tension by worrying about whether our experience is abnormal [in this situation, whether our grass is less green than others' or our house less organized than we wish it were].  We beat ourselves up because we worry we're falling short of the ideal… We load ourselves up with guilt and consternation to the point of being frazzled, so much so that we are unable to enjoy our experience.

I love that way of saying it so much more than "Find joy in the journey."  :)

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"…We generate excessive tension by worrying about whether our experience is abnormal.  We beat ourselves up because we worry we're falling short of the ideal… We load ourselves up with guilt and consternation to the point of being frazzled, so much so that we are unable to enjoy our experience."  - Po Bronson, Why Do I Love These People?

jobs (other than my own) that I would love: part 3

You don't have to watch all of that, but you'll be in for some great entertainment (and a couple of fun surprises) if you do.  I, for one, am highly impressed with her ability to pull out so many different dance moves in just five minutes, even if she does make extensive use of the model walk.  

Oh, and I sang that song in my fifth grade musical.

But back to the point - I would be such a good store mascot.  I've always thought it would be soooo fun (except in the boiling heat) - AS LONG AS I had a head.  If there were no head to go with the costume, I would probably be just like most store mascots, but if there were a head and I was allowed to listen to music (whether on a loudspeaker or an iPod), I would be great and it would be super fun.  Everyone driving / walking by would totally come into my store / buy a mattress / pizza / insurance / fried chicken from me.  Whaaaaat!

(I was going to insert a video from "The Middle" where you find out that, when Sue is the mascot, everyone loves her, but I couldn't find it.  You'll just have to imagine. :)

So, that's pretty much it.  I would enjoy being a grocery buggy collecter, a tutor, and a store mascot.  As for jobs that I don't have enough to say about for them to get their own post, there's just one.  It's "teach you how to go grocery shopping"er.  I'm good at going shopping and living on a low grocery budget, I think.  I wouldn't teach a class, necessarily, but I think I could do a pretty good job going into someone's home, looking at what they like to eat, helping them learn to look through an ad, and then going shopping.  That kind of thing.

Oh, and high school choir accompanist.

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"Which of these adventures shall we choose [to describe]?  The best way will be to toss for it.

I have tossed, and the lagoon has won.  This almost makes one wish that the gulch or the cake or Tink's leaf had won.  Of course I could do it again, and make it best out of three; however, perhaps fairest to stick to the lagoon."  - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

jobs (other than my own) that I would love: part 2

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A tutor, particularly in Spanish or Math (or Self-Esteem - that would be fun:).  These are my two favorite subjects (as far as tutoring goes), and although I love teaching, there's something about giving one-on-one help that's different and special.  Also, the grammar-based style of teaching Spanish is getting older and being phased out a little, but I really enjoy tutoring students who have learned by that style because I love grammar (and teaching it).  I am fascinated with the nuances of speech, grammar, accents, and pronunciation.  Anyway - I could go on but I won't.  Job #2 = tutor (but hopefully we both would look happier and the kid would have a better haircut).

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"The difference between [Peter] and the other boys at such a time was that they knew it was make-believe, while to him make-believe and true were exactly the same thing."  - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

jobs (other than my own) that I would love: part 1

There are a few jobs in this world that I would love to have.  Not only would be they provide a great amount of joy to me, but I also just think I would rock at them.  I considered posting all of them right now, but then I realized I have a lot to say about some of these, so, without further ado, here is "Jobs (other than my own) that I would love: Part 1." 

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Let's be honest, I already love this job.  Every time I go grocery shopping by myself, I'm excited to return the buggy, and every time I go with Joel, I volunteer to return the buggy to the cart corral.  I would LOVE to be the buggy gatherer at a grocery store.  Love.  Why?  First of all, scenes like this...

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...make the OCD "I enjoy organizing" part of my brain start filling up with endorphins.  Seriously.  I get excited just looking at this picture.  I want to clean it!!  Secondly...

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...look how happy they look!  I'm kind of kidding - most shopping cart picker uppers do not look that happy, and every time I've talked to someone about this dream job, they tell me I would hate it soon after starting.  I have to say, though, I'm really good at doing repetitive organization tasks and still liking them at the end.  I feel like I would look like those people if I were doing that job, especially if I were allowed to, 1) talk to people and/or, 2) listen to music.  Also, I could go around taking people's buggies for them when they finished unloading!  Fun.  And thirdly...

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...there would probably be an unlimited amount of opportunities to do that.  So there you have it!  One job I would love to have (and be great at) is that of Grocery Bugger Gatherer.

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"'I have often,' said Smee, 'noticed your strange dread of crocodiles.'

'Not of crocodiles,' Hook corrected him, 'but of that one crocodile.'  He lowered his voice.  'It liked my arm so much, Smee, that it has followed me ever since, from sea to sea and from land to land, licking its lips for the rest of me.'

'In a way,' said Smee, 'it's a sort of compliment.'" 

- J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Happy birthday! is not well-sung with a gun.

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BACKGROUND STORY: Last week, Joel and I came home from a refreshing night bike ride only to find a bunch of balloons very similar to these ones tied to our porch. It not being either of our birthdays, we assumed they were from our friends who sometimes like to leave treasures in our hammock. They had just made dinner for his parents to celebrate their birthdays, after all.

Me: But why would they have bought a Cars balloon for his parents?
Joel: Why would anyone but the Ammons have left Happy Birthday balloons on our porch?
Me: Yeah, that's true.

A couple days later, one of the Ammons came to our house, saw the balloons, and questioned our having them. Turns out, they weren't from them.

Today I have been cleaning the house and found the mystery balloons by the back door. They'd lost a lot of helium, so I decided to pop them and throw them away. The last one was one of those metallic ones, so it didn't immediately pop when I poked a hole in it. I didn't want to press all the air out of that tiny hole, though, so I put more holes in it.  As I was semi-consciously putting holes in the balloon to the beat of the song I was listening to, I remembered this story...

THE ACTUAL STORY I MEANT TO BLOG ABOUT: Once when I was working at a telephone survey place, we had a party. Our boss was leaving for a bigger and better job, so we were celebrating his last day with him. Sadly, however, it was still business as usual - there were just food and balloons involved. That place had a pretty pokey ceiling, and while some people were on the phone conducting surveys, several of the balloons floated to the top of the ceiling and popped, causing many people in the office to scream and many survey-takers on the phone to freak out, believing that we were being part of a drive-by shooting.

Thankfully, we weren't.

After assuring them that we were fine, (as I recall, I was just leaving a message, but I told the answering machine anyway), we hurried to tie the rest of the balloons to our cubicles so they couldn't float too high. It was a pretty eventful going away party. Popping those Happy Birthday balloons reminded me of that.

quick update

I haven't blogged in a while - been super super busy the last two weeks - but here's a quick update!

*playing for a competition that's tonight and tomorrow - super stressful - teaching me to have faith*
*last Saturday, did a booth at the African American Children's Fair - really fun - reaaally cute kids :) *
*Friday class is canceled for three weeks!*
*canceled should be spelled with two L's*
*Joel got a promotion!*
*start my Mérida prep class this week - really excited about learning all about the trip*
*stressed about marriage license/passport/driver's license business*
*bought my ticket to Mexico!*
*saw a friend that I haven't seen since his mission - fun*
*excited for HP5 + oatmeal craisin patties + Mexico/New York/London party tomorrow to celebrate competition being over*
*got two bookshelves yesterday for $20 - really excited for the extra storage space*


Have a fun day!

work

Well, I'm sitting here at work, not doing much.  I feel kind of bad because I feel like I'm wasting the University's money - I'm just reading recipes and stuff.  Not so connected to my job.  BUT at the same time, I don't feel awful because I told my boss a little bit ago that I was done with my work and needed a project to do.  So I'm doing my best to do work, and my boss knows that I'm not currently doing it... but still.

However, in this down time, I found a delicious recipe that I believe I will be trying SOON.  Homemade pop tarts.  But you don't only have to use them for unhealthy fillings! Turns out, Alton Brown has made something very similar on his show (called Pocket Pies) and the comments are full of ideas for different fillings!  Chocolate pudding, brown sugar filling, but also things like pizza, ground beef and potatoes, eggs and cheese, leftovers (kinda weird, but some leftovers would be good in a crust!), shredded pork, jam, fresh fruit filling, etc.  I'm thinking these would be SUPER tasty and hope to make some up soon.  I'll probably make a variety of kinds.  They seem like they'd be something that could be yummy to grab on the way out if I'm running late. Just keep them in the freezer, put a couple in the oven when I get up, and then Joel and I would both have breakfast ready. The egg kind sounds pretty good, I think.

Well, enjoy! I've spent a while reading about them and can't wait to try them.  I'll let you know how they turn out!